Mumbai Executive Committee Members

Purnima Contractor – President AECED Mumbai

Purnima Contractor ECD consultant, Founder Director of Greenfields Creative Learning Solutions has worked with children of all strata of society. She is the Head Operations of AECED National. She is also a Trustee of VYF, an NGO working with disadvantaged children.

She is a Workshop Facilitator and strongly believes in experiential learning, holistic development & inclusive education using the medium of stories, music and movement in FLN since the last 4 decades.

She has been instrumental in conceiving and producing child-friendly music and stories for children and their teachers to make joyful learning spaces. (https://youtube.com/@greenfieldslearninghub?feature=shared)

Dr Shobha Bharat – Vice President AECED Mumbai
Completed her Master’s degree in Human Development from University of Mumbai, PhD from SNDT University and a Certificate course in Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Education from Goldameir Institute, Haifa, Israel. She presently contributes as the HOD and Senior Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development at S. P. N. Doshi Women’s College affiliated to SNDT Women’s University. She comes with a vast experience of 28 years as a Teacher Educator in Early Childhood Education and Consultant in the field of Human Development.

Dr Vidhya Satish – Hon. Secretary AECED Mumbai

Vidhya is the Director of SIES Institute of Comprehensive Education, Sion, Mumbai and Nerul, Navi Mumbai, an institute training teachers in Early Childhood Education, Counsellors and Special Educators.
She has to her credit a doctoral degree along with a double Masters in Human Development and in Education.  She conducts motivational and ECE curriculum related workshops for students, along with teacher and parent empowerment workshops. She has contributed to the field by her publications that are both research and non-research based.

Meera Mahendra – Hon. Treasurer AECED Mumbai
Meera considers parenting the highest priority as it is one of the biggest variables implicating the overall well being and development of the child. Nutrition, emotional and physical health fall under the direct purview of parents.

Rekha Menon – Jt. Treasurer AECED Mumbai
Rekha is passionately pursuing the agenda of making a difference in the early childhood care and education sector. She believes that rightful opportunities must be offered to all children of the world. A practitioner at heart, who felt the need to engage in larger models of execution and be a team member for designing policies that can bring effective outcomes at ground level. Besides being lucky to pursue the career of her passion, she believes in the power of play for the young and the old which makes it a full circle!

She began her journey 28 years ago from preschool classrooms as a teacher to being preschool section coordinator to being Director of International preschool at Damascus, Syria. She pivoted from private sectors to serve as Education Coordinator for Mumbai Mobile Creches, a non-profit organization for migrant children. Formerly employed with Centre for Learning Resources as ECCE Specialist and is currently working as ECCE Specialist in Foundation for Communities of Learning (FCL) India.

Archana Jamdar
Archana is the founder and director of Inspired Learning – a company started in 2011. Archana was fortunate to get trained in contemporary philosophies, namely the Inquiry based approach and the Reggio Approach through mentors of Eton House in Singapore. She strongly advocates the need to bring in play and exploration in early years settings. “Children are born wired to learn, they require tender nurturing care, adequate nutrition , optimum stimulation from adults in order to thrive and grow to their maximum potential.” http://inspiredlearning.in/

Archana Jain
Archana is currently working as Associate Professor, Head, Department of Human Development at Sir Vithaldas Thakersey College of Home Science (Autonomous).

Ms. Moon Devdas
She works as a pre-primary Headmistress in Thakur International School. She has completed her ECCE and B.ed from Mumbai University. She believes that play in early years encourages children with emotional wellbeing and Curriculum should be created keeping in mind the age, learning speed and language skills.

Ms. Swati Bhatt
Ms. Swati Bhatt is a seasoned educationist, entrepreneur, and executive coach with over two decades of experience. As the co-founder of The Learning Curve, she has significantly influenced early childcare education. An expert in L&D, Swati specializes in teacher training, instructional design, and education strategies. She holds an MBA in Marketing and Personnel from SIBM Pune and a PG Diploma in Instructional Design. Currently, she serves as an independent board director at Jetking Infotrain Ltd. Swati’s commitment to advancing teacher training and early childhood education is reflected in her impactful work and leadership.

Dr Asha Menon
Dr Asha Menon is the Principal, Smt. P. N .Doshi Women’s College. She holds a PhD in Human Development from SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai and has more than two decades of teaching experience. She is a PhD research guide, an author, teacher, teacher trainer with research interest in Emotional Intelligence, Early Childhood Education, Parenting, Adolescent Development and Stress Management. She has presented research papers in International and National conferences. She also has numerous research papers and citations to her credit.

Dr Bhamini Mehta
Dr. Bhamini Mehta, is an Assistant professor in Human Development at Sir Vithaldas Thackersey College of Home Science (Empowered Autonomous Status), SNDT Women’s University. She was earlier working at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She has an experience of more than 20 years of teaching, research and community work. She has received project grants from the Ford Foundation, BOB endowment fund, UGC, and the like. Currently, her focal area is use of portfolios and holistic assessment for development during the early years. Apart from ECCE, she is involved in adolescence and life skills development, gender based studies, learning disabilities and parenting.

Ms Khyati Sampat
Ms Khyati Sampat is a Gold medalist in BSc (Human Development, specialization – Developmental Counseling, SNDT University) and MSc (Human Development, University of Mumbai). She is working as an Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development, Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science, Mumbai since 2015. Through classroom teaching and otherwise, she strongly advocates every child’s right to developmentally appropriate learning environment and experiences, and equips people with the skills of emotionally intelligent, considerate parenting and child-rearing practices.